I have such mixed feelings with college sports. On one hand, many people see them as a way out of poverty and communities where academics are severely underfunded and opportunities are few. And then you have the exploitation that comes with the system and how the athlete aren't paid even though their coaches make as much as the pros do, sometimes more.
Yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag at best. Even with the new Name, Imaging, and License deals, most athletes remain unpaid or severely underpaid with a few exceptions. The only reason I follow college sports is that until recently, it was the closest thing to Association Football in the US. The impassioned fans, decades of tradition (some good, some bad), sometimes just strait out brawling on and off the field. But now it is finally being destroyed in favor of bigger media markets and TV deals. College sports was the last resort of quality sports for reasonable ticket prices. Stadiums and arenas were designed to fit as many cheap seats as possible, now it's being replaced by luxury seating for university donors. Personally I think the increased commercialization of college sports will be it's death. How many G league games do most basketball fans watch? Not many. The increased commercialization of college sports will, in time, make them more like minor leagues than their own separate things that made them popular in the first place.
I have such mixed feelings with college sports. On one hand, many people see them as a way out of poverty and communities where academics are severely underfunded and opportunities are few. And then you have the exploitation that comes with the system and how the athlete aren't paid even though their coaches make as much as the pros do, sometimes more.
In like a dozen states the highest paid public employee is the college football coach
Yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag at best. Even with the new Name, Imaging, and License deals, most athletes remain unpaid or severely underpaid with a few exceptions. The only reason I follow college sports is that until recently, it was the closest thing to Association Football in the US. The impassioned fans, decades of tradition (some good, some bad), sometimes just strait out brawling on and off the field. But now it is finally being destroyed in favor of bigger media markets and TV deals. College sports was the last resort of quality sports for reasonable ticket prices. Stadiums and arenas were designed to fit as many cheap seats as possible, now it's being replaced by luxury seating for university donors. Personally I think the increased commercialization of college sports will be it's death. How many G league games do most basketball fans watch? Not many. The increased commercialization of college sports will, in time, make them more like minor leagues than their own separate things that made them popular in the first place.